Chocolate Covered Frozen Bananas and Accidental Truffles

I set out to make some chocolate covered bananas with a couple of nice ripe bananas,  the tail end of a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a solid milk chocolate Easter Bunny that had been sitting in my pantry since, well, Easter. I also had partial bags of shredded coconut and walnut pieces. Pardon the informality of the recipe. I didn't really measure anything because I make chocolate covered frozen bananas all the time and they're, usually,  ridiculously easy. I've also made hundreds of truffles... on purpose, even as gifts! As for these particular truffles, it just happened like most kitchen magic does... completely unexpectedly and most often accidentally. Fortunately I know what chocolate truffle insides look like, otherwise this would have been a fruitless sacrifice of that poor Easter Bunny.

Chocolate - whatever you have around
Ripe bananas
Popsicle sticks
Chopped nuts
Coconut
Heavy cream
A splash of Cointreau, Frangelico, or some other tasty flavoring that goes well with chocolate

1. First I prepped the bananas by peeling, halving, and impaling them with popsicle sticks (from a craft store). The walnuts went through my mini food processor and onto a plate. I had my little dude dump the coconut onto another plate. I also lined a baking sheet with my fondant mat - waxed or parchmint paper works too.
2. I hacked up the bunny and started melting the chocolates in a makeshift double boiler, which is just a bowl sitting on top of a pot of simmering water. I stirred and stirred until it was nice and shiny and melty smooth.

3. I tried to dip the bananas in the chocolate, but it was too shallow. I just spooned the chocolate over the bananas and used the back of the spoon to gently spread it around. I then rolled them in the chopped walnuts, coconut, or both and set them the lined baking sheet to set.

This is where the plot twists and the instructions lose the little precision they had.

4. For some reason my chocolate started to get really thick. It could have been the fan in the kitchen, the crappy burner, on the heat too long, who knows. I figured that I could stir in some heavy cream (about 1/2 cup?) to thin it out. Not so much. As I stirred, it began to look dry and fluffy. (Duh! I should have known, but somehow my inability to put two and two together is still surprising me.) After several seconds of starring, confused and a little pissed, into the fluffy chocolate mass in the top of the double broiler, I realized what the hell had just happened. I made chocolate truffle filling.
6. Still a little confused, I turned off the heat.
5. The next natural step was to stir in a splash of booze. I used Cointreau.
In the past I've made truffles with all sorts of stuff from espresso to aged balsamic vinegar. So, literally anything goes. If it sounds like it could work, try it.
6. I let the mixture cool down just enough to handle. I rolled it into small balls, about an inch or so. I then rolled them in the shredded coconut, walnuts, or both. I put them on the lined baking sheet to set... right next to the bananas.
7. Once they were set, I moved the truffles to a container for refrigerator storage and the bananas to another container to be stored in the freezer.

So that's how it happened. It's not exact and I'm not sure if it's even worth trying to recreate. But, hey, it was fun and both chocolaty treats ended up tasting pretty damn good.

Feeding Yourself Smartly - A Course for Elementary Schoolers

 

We're almost done with the first week of school. Fortunately, the tantrums have subsided (for the most part) and we're starting to get into the daily groove. Packing healthy, balanced lunches and snacks seems easy enough, right? In your head, you win. You're Superparent. Until... everything you sent comes right back, untouched at the end of the day and the kids are hell-spawn from apparent starvation by their own picky hands.  

As horrifying as the fact may be, we are training our children to feed and nourish themselves in the future. So, they might as well have some (controlled) practice and confidence-boosting decision making power when it comes the foods they consume.

It's time for the ever-popular Make-Your-Own Trail Mix Day. 

 

I'd be lying if I said the kids were the true beneficiaries of this project. I win twice because my kids are actually eating their snacks, and I get to rid my pantry of all of those half-used bags of walnuts, shredded coconut, candied pecans, or whatever else is left over from my last kamikaze baking night.

This time, I set out bowls and containers of almonds, peanuts, cashews, banana chips, dried apples, golden raisins, cheese crackers, pretzels, peanut butter-filled pretzels, shredded coconut, and a handful of M&Ms. The nuts and dried fruits are in larger containers and the less-healthy stuff is in much smaller bowls. The only rule is that they must choose at least two kinds of nuts and two kinds of dried fruit and those items need to be prominent in their mix. Everything else is up to them. I use the bowls on the table as props in the Food Groups talk. While the kids assemble a week's worth of snacks, we discuss why we need what and how much we need to be healthy and happy. They shake up their containers or bags to distribute their goodies evenly, and that's that.

Although this isn't the most creative recipe, it's certainly useful, in more ways than just physical nourishment. 

Enjoy 'em.